Device for coupling adjacent ends of two marine vessels

ABSTRACT

A device for coupling adjacent ends of a tug boat to a barge including a first coupling member mounted for universal movement on the bow of the tug boat and having a shoulder normally extending transverse to the longitudinal axis of the tug and facing the bow of the latter, a second coupling member, preferably in the form of a carriage, guided for movement in substantially vertical direction by guide means mounted on the stern of the barge, and having a pair of holding members movable between a coupling position engaging the shoulder of said first coupling member and an inactive position disengaged therefrom.

UnitedyStates Patent [1 1 Janssen et al.

[ Aug. 20, 1974 1 DEVICE FOR COUPLING ADJACENT ENDS OF TWO MARINEVESSELS [73] Assignee: Aktien-Gesellschaft Weser Bremen, Germany 221Filed: Apr. s, 1973 21 App1.No.:348,156

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 15, 1972 Germany 7214289[52] Cl. 114/235 A, 24/230 AT, 403/76, 403/122 [51] Int. Cl B63b 21/56[58] Field of Search..... 114/235 R, 235 A, 235 WS, 114/230, 231, 77 R,77 A, 102; 115/6; 24/230 AT; 403/76, 122; 254/105, 106

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,257,986 6/1966 Glosten114/235 R 4/1969 8/1969 Mosvold 114/235 R Primary Examiner-Lloyd L. KingAssistant Examiner-Randolph A Reese Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Michael S.Striker [5 7 ABSTRACT A device for coupling adjacent ends of a tugboatto a barge including a first coupling member mounted for universalmovement on the bow of the tug boat and having a shoulder normallyextending transverse to the longitudinal axis of the tug and facing thebow of the latter, a second coupling member, preferably in the form of acarriage, guided for movement in substantially vertical direction byguide means mounted on the stern of the barge, and having a pair ofholding members movable between a coupling position engaging theshoulder of said first coupling member and an inactive positiondisengaged therefrom.

11 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures Curtis et a1. 114/102 DEVICE FOR COUPLINGADJACENT ENDS OF TWO MARINE VESSELS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thepresent invention relates to a device for coupling adjacent ends of twomarine vessels, for instance a tug boat and a barge to each other, inwhich the device comprises a universally movable coupling member on thebow of the tub boat and a vertical guide mounted on the stern of thebarge.

A coupling device of this type is well known in the art in which thecoupling member has a spherical end which engages in a calotte on thebow of the tug boat and which is held therein by movably arrangedslides. The other end of this coupling member engages directly in avertical guide which is fastened to the stern of the barge, however, avertical movement of the coupling member in the aforementioned guidecannot be carried out with this construction when the barge is moved bythe tug boat. In order to disengage this couplin g device, it isnecessary to remove the spherical end of the coupling member from thecalotte and the mechanism for carrying out this disengagement iscomplicated and subjected to malfunction. Another disadvantage of thisknown arrangement is that in order to reengage the coupling,'the twovessels have to be inexact position with respect to each other and novertical relative movement of the two vessels is possible.

In another known coupling arrangement, a vertical relative-movementbetween the bow of the tug boat and the stern of the barge is possible,but in this arrangement the coupling means are guided substantiallymidway between the ends of the tub boat, which disadvantageously effectsthe maneuvering capability of the latter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention toprovide a device for coupling adjacent ends of two marine vessels toeach other which avoids the disadvantages of such coupling devices knownin the art.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide for acoupling device for coupling the bow of a tug boat and the stern of abarge which permits a relative vertical movement of the adjacent ends ofthe two ves sels during movement of the same.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide for acoupling device which permits to carry out the coupling of adjacent endsof two vessels in a very simple and expedient manner and to permitespecially a very fast disconnection of the coupling means in case ofdanger.

In order to obtain the desired results, the device according to thepresent invention for coupling adjacent spaced ends of two marinevessels to each other mainly comprises a first coupling member mountedat one end of one of the vessels for universal movement with respectthereto and having a projecting portion having a shoulder face extendingtransverse to the projecting portion and normally facing said one end oftheone vessel, a second coupling member having a cavity receiving theprojecting portion and holding means movable between a coupling positionengaging the afore mentioned shoulder face and an inactive positiondisengaged therefrom. The device includes further guide means on the endof the other vessel and mounting the 2 i second coupling member movableonly in substantially vertical directionwith respect to said othervessel.

The second coupling member is preferably in the form of a carriagehaving a plurality of rollers which engage the aforementioned guidemeans and guide the carriage for movement in substantially verticaldirection.

The holding means are preferably constituted by a pair of holdingmembers, and operating means are preferably provided on the secondcoupling member for moving the pair of holding members between theaforementioned positions thereof. Such operating means preferably are inthe form of fluid operated-cylinder and piston means. The two holdingmembers may be mounted on thesecond coupling member tiltable about apair of spaced axes, or the two holding members may be in the form ofslides mounted for movement in direction of the aforementioned shoulderface in and out of engagement with the latter. The projecting portion ofthe first coupling member has preferably a frustoconical end portionwhich forms the shoulder face on the large diameter end thereof, and thecavity in the second coupling member is of corresponding frustoconicalshape in which the frustoconical end portion of the first couplingmember is closely received.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinventionare set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in 'connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERREDEMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawing, and more specifically to FIG.1 of thev same, it will be seenthat the device for coupling adjacentends of a pair of marine vessels to each other may comprise a firstcoupling member 3 having a spherical portion which is held in a known'manner universally movable in a calotte on the bow of a tug boat 1,only partially shown in FIG. 1. The coupling member 3 further comprisesa projecting portion having a frustoconical end portion 7 normallyprojecting in the direction of the axis a of the tug boat therefrom andforming at the large diameter end thereof an annular shoulder face 8which extends normal to the axis of the projecting portion. The deviceincludes further a second coupling member in the form of a carriage 4having a centrally projecting tubular portion 4a forming a cavity offrustoconical configuration which is adapted, when the two couplingmembers are engaged with each other, to receive the frustoconical endportion 7 of the first coupling member closely fitting in the cavity.The second coupling member compirses further holding means including atleast a pair of holding members 9 each mounted intermediate the. ends 3thereof tiltable about a tilting axis 9' between a holding position, asshown in FIG. 1, in which the inner end of each holding'memberengagesbehind the shoulder 8 of the first coupling member and a tiltedposition disengaged therefrom. The carriage 4 carries further operatingmeans for moving the holding'members 9 between the positions thereof andsuch operating means may be in the form of cylinder and piston meansmounted on brackets extending laterally from the portion 4a of thecarriage 4. The outer ends of the piston rods of the cylinder and pistonmeans 10 are pivotally connected to the outer ends of the holdingmembers 9. Pressure fluid may be fed in a known manner to opposite endsof the cylinder and piston means '10 by flexible conduits, not shown inthe drawing, from a source of pressure fluid likewise not illustrated tooperate the holding members 9. Guide means 5 are fixedly mounted on thestern of a barge 2, only partially illustrated in FIG. 1,

and these guide means are formed with vertically extending guideways inwhich two pairs of rollers 6a, 6b on the carriage 4 are engaged so thatthe carriage 4 is movable on the guide means 5 in substantially verticaldirection. As shown in FIG. 1, the axes of the pair of rollers'6a extendnormal to the axes of the pair of rollers 6b so that rollers 6acooperate with the guide means 5 to prevent. movement of the carriage indirection of the axis a, whereas the rollers 6b prevent movement of thecarriage in direction lateral thereto so that the carriage can move onlyin substantially vertical direction. This will assure that the twocoupling members can be properly engaged regardless whether the barge isloaded or not.

FIGS. 2 and 3 partially illustrate a modification of the coupling deviceshown in FIG. 1 and in this modification the projecting portion 7' ofthe first coupling member is provided rearwardly of thefrustoconicalportion thereof with an annular groove 12 and the holdingmembers 11 are constituted by a pair of slides 11 the inner end portionsof which are movable in and out of the annular groove 12 through guideslots 15 formed in the projecting portion 4a of the second couplingmember so as to connect and disconnect the first and the second couplingmember to each other. Movement of the slide members 11 into and out ofengagement with the aforementioned annular groove 12 is accomplished bycylinder and piston means 14 and a pair of levers 13 each connected atone end pivotably to the carriage 4 and at the other end, respectively,to one end of the cylinder of the cylinder and piston means 14 and tothe free end of the piston rod projecting therefrom, while the outerends of the slide members 11' are pivotally connected to theaforementioned levers l3 intermediate the ends thereof. Flexibleconduits, not shown in the drawing, are again used for feeding-pressurefluid from a source of pressure fluid, likewise notillustrated, intothe-opposite ends of the cylinder of the cylinder and piston means 14 tothereby move the levers l3 and the slide members 11 connected theretofor moving the latter in and out of engagement with the annular groove12.

Both coupling arrangements are constructed in such a manner thattheywill automatically decouple if a predetermined-maximum pulling load isapplied-thereto, which can, for instance, be accomplished by providingan overpressure valve in the aforementioned conduits for feedingpressure fluid into the cylinder and piston means 10m 14.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofcoupling devices for coupling adjacent ends of two marine vesselsdiffering from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied inacoupling device for coupling the bow of a tug boat to the stern of abarge, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, sincevarious modifications and structural changes may be made withoutdeparting in any way from the spirit of the present invention. 7

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying current knowledgereadily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this inventionand, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to becomprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed as new and desiredto be protected by Letters Patent isset forth in the appended l. A device for coupling adjacent spaced endsof two marine vessels to each other comprising, in combination, a firstcoupling member mounted at one end along the axis of one'of said vesselsfor universal movement with respect thereto and having a projectingportion having a shoulder face extending transverse to said projectingportion and normally facing said one end of said one vessel; a secondcoupling member having a cavity receiving said projecting portion andholding means movable between a coupling position engaging said shoulderface and an inactive position disengaged therefrom; and guide means onthe end of the other vessel mounting said second coupling means movableonly in substantially vertical direction with respect to said othervessel.

2. A device as defined in claim 1, and including operating means on saidsecond coupling member for moving said holding means between saidpositions thereof.

4. A device as defined in claim 3, wherein said carriage has two pairsof rollers having horizontal axes and the axes of one pair beingsubstantially normal to the axes of the other pair. I g 5. A device asdefined in claim 1, wherein said-holding means-comprise a pair ofholding members tiltably mounted about spaced tilting axes on the secondcoupling member for movement between said positions thereof. Y

6. A device as defined in claim 5, and including a pair offluid-operated cylinder and piston means mounted on said second couplingmember and respectively'connected to said pair of holding members fortilting the same between the positions thereof.

7. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein said holding means comprisesa pair of slide members movable from opposite sides in the direction ofsaid shoulder face into and out of engagement with the latter, and meansfor moving said slide members into and out of engagement with saidshoulder face.

v one of said pair of levers intermediate the ends of the latter.

9. A device as defined in claim 8, wherein said second coupling memberis provided with a pair of guide slots through which said slide membersrespectively extend.

10. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein said first coupling memberhas a substantially spherical portion mounted for universal movement atsaid one end of said one vessel and wherein said projecting portion hasan end portion of frustoconical configuration forming said shoulder faceat the large diameter end thereof, said cavity on said second couplingmember being of corresponding frustoconical shape and receiving thefrustoconical end portion when said first and said second couplingmember are engaged with each other.

ll; A device as defined in claim 1, wherein said first coupling member,said second coupling member and said guide means form the onlyconnection between the two marine vessels.

1. A device for coupling adjacent spaced ends of two marine vessels toeach other comprising, in combination, a first coupling member mountedat one end along the axis of one of said vessels for universal movementwith respect thereto and having a projecting portion having a shoulderface extending transverse to said projecting portion and normally facingsaid one end of said one vessel; a second coupling member having acavity receiving said projecting portion and holding means movablebetween a coupling position engaging said shoulder face and an inactiveposition disengaged therefrom; and guide means on the end of the othervessel mounting said second coupling means movable only in substantiallyvertical direction with respect to said other vessel.
 2. A device asdefined in claim 1, and including operating means on said secondcoupling member for moving said holding means between said positionsthereof.
 3. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein said second couplingmember is a carriage having a plurality of rollers, said rollersengaging said guide means and guiding said carriage for movement insubstantially vertical direction.
 4. A device as defined in claim 3,wherein said carriage has two pairs of rollers having horizontal axesand the axes of one pair being substantially normal to the axes of theother pair.
 5. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein said holdingmeans comprise a pair of holding members tiltably mounted about spacedtilting axes on the second coupling member for movement between saidpositions thereof.
 6. A device as defined in claim 5, and including apair of fluid-operated cylinder and piston means mounted on said secondcoupling member and respectively connected to said pair of holdingmembers for tilting the same between the positions thereof.
 7. A deviceas defined in claim 1, wherein said holding means comprises a pair ofslide members movable from opposite sides in the direction of saidshoulder face into and out of engagement with the latter, and means formoving said slide members into and out of engagement with said shoulderface.
 8. A device as defined in claim 7, wherein said moving meanscomprising fluid-operated cylinder and piston means, a pair of leverseach pivotally connected at one end to said second coupling member andat the other end to a respective one of opposite ends of said cylinderand piston means, said slide members being pivotally connected at theouter ends to a respective one of said pair of levers intermediate theends of the latter.
 9. A device as defined in claim 8, wherein saidsecond coupling member is provided with a pair of guide slots throughwhich said slide members respectively extend.
 10. A device as defined inclaim 1, wherein said first coupling member has a substantiallyspherical portion mounted for universal movement at said one end of saidone vessel and wherein said projecting portion has an end portion offrustoconical configuration forming said shoulder face at the largediameter end thereof, said cavity on said second coupling member beingof corresponding frustoconical shape and receiving the frustoconical endportion when said first and said second coupling member are engaged witheach other.
 11. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein said firstcoupling member, said second coupling member and said guide means formthe only connection between the two marine vessels.